autimatic: "I feel like I'm a rookie again"

Shortly after Evil Geniuses' loss to Liquid in the first-place decider match at the IEM Rio Americas RMR, Timothy "autimatic" Ta spoke with Dust2.us' Liam "Slevo" Slevin to discuss a number of topics, including playing against Liquid at EPL and the RMR, the squad's new additions, and autimatic's previous experience playing in front of a Brazilian crowd.

You've qualified for the Major but missed out on Legends status after losing to Liquid. You guys were up on Ancient, and then it went to triple overtime where you guys lost. Tell me about that game.

I think we have a lack of experience on the map, especially in matches. We've definitely practiced it but in matches, a lot of your flaws show up in a way that can really hurt you and that's what happened there. We definitely knew that it was a possibility, we tried to prepare for it, but some things you can't fix until you go through it.

With the way things have been going for you recently, getting some victories at EPL and now qualifying for IEM Rio, tell me about your guys' form.

I think that we're improved pretty steadily. I think that from EPL we played against C9 and Liquid, and we were really tested by them. We also played against FURIA and I felt like we improved from the C9 and Liquid matches, and we just tried to keep the progression going, and that was the main goal of this RMR. Obviously to try to qualify, but most importantly to try and progress.

Tell me what it's like playing against Liquid at EPL and here at the RMR.

It's a pleasure to play against them. It's a challenge, and it's not every day that you get to play a top-five team, and that's what our coaches maLeK and Vorborg were saying is just that we're playing against a really good team so we should just try to push our limits and give it our all. It's a valuable experience.

Would you consider yourself the star player of EG?

I wouldn't consider myself the star player. I think I have some important roles on a lot of our maps, but I think we have so many talented players on the team a lot of the time we're really all kind of doing well or we're all doing bad if we're losing. But I think everyone ahs the potential to take over a game on this team. So yeah, I wouldn't call myself a star player.

Tell me what it's been like to play with CeRq, especially considering his resurgence in this event.

I think CeRq has a great mentality; I think that's one of his strong suits is that he's always looking to get better. He's very willing to receive feedback and he's always working very hard to improve himself and just get better. You can't really ask for much more after that, and I think he's doing a good job.

Tell me about the team dynamic inside and outside the server right now with the additions of neaLaN and HexT.

Well HexT, he's Mr. Electric. He's always hyping us up, just trying to keep the mood up, which I think is so valuable. He had a rough match today, but he was doing everything he needed to for the team and he was also the one hyping us up, even though things weren't going his way. I think those are really good qualities and qualities that sometimes young inexperienced players don't have, but he's super confident, and it kind of just spreads throughout the team. He's also been improving a lot since we first started playing with him.

In terms of neaLaN, it's been a pleasure to play with him so far. I think me, him, and the coaching staff, we love to talk CS, and to hear his perspective of things is really helpful. I also think he does a great job calling.

How does your coaching staff affect the team's dynamics?

maLeK is being reacquainted with the team. He wasn't with us the first month that we were starting, so he's spending some time catching up and trying to get acquainted, but he's already really helpful and I'm sure that he has more to give us in the future. I've been working with him personally and he's already helped me on some of my weaker maps.

Vorborg, I've said it a lot of times, but I think he's a really great coach. He has a lot of in-game knowledge, he doesn't force you to do things his way, but he gets everyone on the same page and ultimately that's what matters is that everyone is on the same page and in sync. So he's done a great job, and I'm very impressed with what he's brought to the team.

With valens coming back, he hasn't really been doing that much in terms of strategy, just because we already have so many voices on the team that it can become too much, but I think that he does a great job chiming in whenever we miss something and he's done a great job just making sure that everyone's comfortable and that everyone is heard.

This will be your first time in a while playing in front of a big crowd. Tell me what that's like after being away from a crowd setting for so long.

I have no clue what it's gonna be like. I feel like I'm a rookie again. Even coming back and playing these LAN matches in studios, I was definitely a bit anxious and a bit nervous. It's gonna be fun to play in front of a crowd. I definitely miss it; that's why I came back, because of how many tournaments there are. I'm just going to try and enjoy my time in front of the Brazilian fans.

You won Season 3 of EPL in front of a Brazilian crowd, does that experience come to mind with your qualification to Rio?

I haven't thought about that experience in a while, but I just remember that we were playing against SK and they obviously were a Brazilian team and they definitely weren't too happy at us in the moment, but I think even after we won, we left the arena and I just remember all the Brazilian fans supporting us, even though we had just taken out SK. That was a fun experience for sure.

Right now, Complexity and Imperial are dueling for the last spot at IEM Rio. What do you think it would mean for FalleN to qualify or not qualify for this event?

I'm not too sure honestly, I don't know if it means anything really. I think that he's just on the grind and he's just trying to get back to where he was. I think that their team, Imperial, can do some damage for sure. FalleN was always super hard to play against for me, and I always felt like he had crazy impact, crazy reads. He always had a hard team to play against. I'm hoping the best for them. Obviously, I have some boys on Complexity that I'm cheering for as well. Either way, I think it's going to be a good match.

You guys have a bit less than a month until IEM Rio now. Tell me about what the preparation will be like heading into the Challengers stage.

We're gonna take a few days off, just because we've been on the road for a while now. Even when we have days off and we're bootcamping, we're all still working so we don't really actually have any time off and it can get tiring if you do it too much. We're gonna take one or two days off, and then we're just gonna go back and watch the games, review, and try to fix our mistakes. For us, there's a lot to learn from since we're so new, so it's about capitalizing on these opportunities.

Evil Geniuses' next outing will be at the North American BLAST Premier Fall Showdown, less than two weeks before their IEM Rio journey kicks off in the Challengers Stage. autimatic and the rest of Evil Geniuses will be beginning their run in the North American BLAST Premier Fall Showdown on October 21st against Brazilian side Fluxo.